TGS - Chapter 68
Chapter 68: The Royal Villa
At the end of the twelfth month, the biting wind howled.
Large, feathery snowflakes swirled through the sky, fluttering down to lay a thick, pure white blanket on the main road into the city.
The Princess’s jet-black boots crunched on the snow. Though her steps were light, they still made a soft sound, which blended into the movements of the guards and carriages behind her and was barely noticeable.
The shops lining the main street were all respectable and well-kept, but on such a snowy day, few were willing to open for business, especially since there would be few customers anyway.
Nearing the end of the year, activities like planting, grazing, and construction had all but ceased. In weather like this, most city dwellers were huddled in their warm homes with fires burning in the hearth. Who would come out to buy things?
Likewise, there were almost no pedestrians on the street.
The caravan, having traveled from afar, made its way through the quiet streets, heading toward the City Lord's manor.
Lotus and the Princess had disembarked from their carriage as soon as they entered the city gates. Now, they walked at an unhurried pace at the very front of the procession, leaving the first footprints on the untouched expanse of white.
Lotus, wrapped in a white fur cloak, peered out from the edge of her hood at Alyuin.
The Princess also wore a hood, but it didn't cover her forehead. Her face was turned slightly, her gaze sweeping past the snow-covered shops as a look of nostalgia surfaced in her eyes.
Lotus felt she should say something. "It seems you've been here before," she said softly.
Alyuin nodded. "When I was seven, I came here with my father on an inspection tour. It was winter then, too."
This was the major city closest to Akhet. Exiting the rear city gate and heading east, one would enter the territory under the direct jurisdiction of the royal capital. Its domain was larger than that of any other major city, the center of royal power in the nation of Solancia.
Alyuin remembered the city lord here—a magnanimous and kind old man who had once served as her father's teacher.
They had stood in the courtyard watching the snow, discussing the city's important affairs, while her mother had taken her to sit in the reception hall, chatting idly with the elderly city lord's wife.
But the Princess hadn't sat for long. After properly excusing herself with a bow to her mother, she had scampered out into the courtyard in her small calfskin boots and listened intently to the two elders' conversation.
Her father had said helplessly, "It's so cold out here. Why did you run out? Can you even understand what we're talking about?"
The Princess had replied, "Just keep talking, Father. When you're done, ask me, and you'll know if I can understand."
The old city lord had smiled kindly. "Her Highness is so clever. Even if you don't understand, you can still repeat it back, can't you?"
The Princess's golden eyes had widened, the cat-like corners tilting up. "I won't just repeat it. I can understand it."
This had made both men laugh. The Princess, not understanding why, heard the old city lord say, shaking his head, "Your Highness, many things can't be understood just by hearing them. No matter how clever you are, you must first have experience, otherwise it's just empty talk."
"Then I'll experience it first, and then come back and tell Father about it."
The Princess had been very confident.
The old city lord smiled without speaking, then asked the former king, "Your Majesty, why not let Her Highness study with me? At my age, I still have time to teach one more student."
"Wouldn't that be inconvenient?"
"How could it be? It's not as if there haven't been princesses who aided the king in his rule. To be able to teach Her Highness before I return to the embrace of the god Emute might be the last thing I can do for Solancia."
The former king said, "I'm afraid that won't work. Just the other day, Alyuin was talking about going to the battlefield. I think she wants to join the army and become a commander."
He spread his hands, as if in disapproval.
But the Princess said, "Why can't I learn both? I'm already practicing archery and studying astronomy and mathematics, and it's not that hard."
The former king was both exasperated and amused. "How can that be the same..."
But the old city lord didn't treat it as a child's idle talk. He crouched down to be at eye level with the young princess and said solemnly, "In two years, if you still don't think it's difficult to learn both, then have His Majesty send you to me."
"—At that time, I will be sure to teach you everything I have learned in my life."
The same wind and snow, but the familiar faces of her family were nowhere to be seen.
Time flew by in a flash. The faces and voices of her father and mother were now frozen in memory, and the old city lord's face had long since blurred. Only these conversations remained.
Back then, the Princess never got the chance to study with the old city lord. Before the two years were up, she was sent to the temple in Kadera by a decree from the new king.
Alyuin's voice as she recounted the past was calm and kept extremely low, so that only Lotus could hear.
A translucent snowflake, its six points distinct, clung to her lowered eyelashes. In the space of a breath, it melted into a tiny droplet, hovering on the edge of her long lashes, on the verge of falling.
Suddenly, Lotus recalled the intelligence she had gathered before coming to this city.
The old man who had served as city lord had died of illness eight years ago. Because he had no children, Horst had given the lordship of this major city to a collateral branch of the royal family.
It was said he died of illness, but as for the truth, those who had lived through the changes of that year all had their own suspicions.
They all knew the truth, but maintained a discreet silence.
Lotus reached out from under her sleeve and unerringly grasped the Princess's exposed wrist.
She placed her palm over Alyuin's tightly clenched knuckles. A moment later, the hand relaxed and obediently allowed the goddess to hold it.
Their equally wide sleeves hung down, overlapping and concealing their joined hands. Besides the two of them, not even the local official closest to them noticed.
This official was here to lead the way.
He was supposedly leading the way, but it was more about putting them in their place. Just imagine: in this raging wind and snow, the Princess's caravan arrives outside the City Lord's manor, only to be told by the guards that the City Lord is occupied with important matters and cannot receive them. How wonderful would the expressions on their faces be when they were turned away at the door?
This was what the City Lord wanted to see.
The official disapproved of this, but since he worked for the City Lord, he had to follow orders no matter how contemptuous he felt.
He squinted, looked ahead, and said, steeling himself, "Your Highness, the City Lord's manor is just ahead."
Alyuin's eyelids lifted slightly. "And to the left?"
"To the left is the residential area for the nobility."
The official had just finished speaking out of habit when he saw Alyuin turn without the slightest hesitation, leading the procession to the left.
"Aren't you going to pay a visit to the City Lord? According to custom—"
The Princess didn't even turn her head. "According to custom, a caravan should find lodging immediately upon entering a city, so as not to let the cargo-laden carriages disrupt the city's order."
The official looked around blankly. As far as he could see, there wasn't the shadow of a single passerby.
In this weather, what people were there for the caravan to disrupt?
The caravan master, riding a tall horse in the middle of the procession, smiled and addressed the official:
"The weather is terrible; it wouldn't be right for the caravan to impose. We accept the City Lord's kind intention in sending you to guide us, and we will express our gratitude when we have the chance."
The official: "..."
He turned his head and glanced at the main gate of the City Lord's manor.
The question was, how was he supposed to report back now?
Alyuin once again took up the identity of an ordinary guard, forgoing the customary visit to the City Lord.
Seeing the tightly shut manor gates from a distance, she knew the other party had ill intentions. With such a person, what need was there to maintain superficial pleasantries?
As for where to stay—
Upon entering the district where nobles and wealthy merchants resided, the title of Princess was once again of use. Alyuin led her guards and the caravan past mansions with high walls on both sides, all the way to the end of the road.
At the foot of a rising slope, a royal villa with its own gardens came into view.
As the major city closest to Akhet, this city was a top priority for the inspection tours of successive kings, so of course a royal villa had been built here.
If the Princess wanted to stay in her own family's villa, the City Lord couldn't possibly stop her, no matter how much he postured.
The villa was quite large, more than enough to accommodate a caravan.
Even though the royal family hadn't visited in a long time, the handmaidens and slaves who remained here kept it tidy. For the newcomers, it was completely ready to be moved into.
The evergreen trees planted in the gardens were neatly trimmed. Shaking off the accumulated snow that covered them, the branches and leaves beneath were still a vibrant, lush green.
Alyuin was already past the earlier stage of being moved by the scene. She just glanced up at the tallest old tree in the courtyard and then strode into the villa.
The head maidservant stationed here received the news and hurried to the entrance hall to greet them.
Upon seeing the Princess throw back her hood, her black hair cascading down, and meet her impassive, assessing gaze with bright golden eyes, the head maidservant took a deep breath, bowed her head, and greeted her, her voice holding a faint tremor.
"Your Highness, please follow me."
The servants in the villa sprang into action, cleaning out rooms for their mistress and her guests in a very short time. A few servants stood in the hallway, looking left and right, stumped as to which room they should prepare for the Princess.
"What is there to hesitate about?" the head maidservant chided. "Clean the main hall."
A handmaiden carrying a bucket hesitated. "But the main hall is only for when the king arrives..."
"This is the Princess. Her Highness stayed in the main hall the last time she was here, and it should be the same this time. Do you understand?"
The handmaiden started and nodded immediately.
Under the watchful eyes of the caravan members, the villa gradually came to life, like a long-abandoned city being revitalized before their very eyes.
When everything was settled, the head maidservant stood behind the Princess and asked respectfully, "Do you have any other orders?"
"Why did you have the main hall cleaned?"
"Only you are qualified to stay here," the head maidservant said without hesitation. "The Lord City Lord said so before he passed away, and we believe so as well."
The new City Lord would never have said such a thing. Only the old one would have.
Alyuin was silent for a moment, then nodded. As she took a step toward the hall, the head maidservant asked cautiously, "Your Highness, may I know who this is beside you—?"
Hearing this, Lotus turned her head, her gaze gentle.
Before Alyuin could answer, she had already spoken calmly, "I am Her Highness's teacher."
Teacher?
The head maidservant's lips moved, her expression bewildered. She suddenly recalled what the old City Lord had said to her eight years ago, when he had secretly come to the villa the day before he "died of illness."
"Kurda, Her Highness will return one day. I am fated not to see that day, but please, stay here. No matter what happens, please stay here."
"...I thought I would get to hear that child call me 'teacher.' What a pity."
The head maidservant bowed her head deeply. In her lowered peripheral vision, she saw the two of them turn and walk into the hall.
Jet-black boots and silver shoes with white straps. Their steps were surprisingly in sync, making clear sounds on the white stone floor as they grew more and more distant.
"This is good, too," she said, her voice inaudibly low.
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